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Avast! Secureline VPN Review

July 21, 2015

A VPN service that comes in at under $9 per month is bound to catch our attention. Avast Securelineis offered by the antivirus manufacturer of the same name. The privacy policy reveals that use of the service is covered under California law, which is less than ideal. Does this service hold up as a real value? In the end, it might not be the ideal solution for everyone, particularly those who demand a good privacy policy.

Pricing and Plans

AvastSecureline can be purchased for PC and Mac, but buying mobile protection will cost you an extra $9.99. The pricing is as follows:

One month, PC, Mac: $7.99

One year, PC, Mac: $59.99

Secureline for Android: $9.99

Secureline for iOS: $9.99

You can pay with credit cards or via PayPal.

Free Trial / Money Back Guarantee

There’s a seven-day free trial available with this product.

Privacy & Anonymity

This provider does log. In addition to that, their privacy policy mentions that third parties may have access to their stored data under certain circumstances. Their documentation is not clear-cut, which is something we don’t like in general. If you’re looking for a VPN that doesn’t store information, this is not it.

From their privacy policy:

“When you use the Avast Secureline virtual private network (VPN) service, the server may capture certain basic data such as the time and network location from which the VPN connection was made and the duration of the VPN connection. This information is routinely deleted within 30 days. In addition, the system may store data on the bandwidth transferred per session.”

Product Testing

Avast Secureline really doesn’t have much in the way of a client compared to other providers. The upside to that is, if you know someone who doesn’t really understand what a VPN is or how it works, you can get them this one and using it will only be as difficult as clicking a button.

If you’re an advanced user, or even an intermediate user, this client isn’t going to do much for you. The ease of use has its advantages, but the lack of feedback really reduces the experience to a leap of faith, which is exactly what VPN users are usually trying to avoid.

Windows, Mac OSX, Android, IPhone, etc.

Protection for Android and iOS devices is available for an additional charge above what Avast charges for their Windows/Mac service. See the pricing listed above.

Speed Test

Avast Baseline Speedtest

Avast VPN Speedtest

Avast Secureline did test very well in terms of speed. The speed reduction was barely noticeable, dropping our connection speed less than 1Mbps.

We Liked

Areas for Improvement

The client is way too simple. There’s just not enough control here. If there were more control, there still wouldn’t be enough of a server network to make Secureline competitive with other options.

The privacy policy is also far less than ideal, particularly considering that third parties are mentioned by the provider throughout their privacy policy documentation, which is confusing, to say the least.

Conclusion

Avast Secureline is, to put it in the most direct way, okay. It doesn’t offer much in the way of flexibility and it certainly doesn’t offer a very sophisticated client. Some VPN services are clearly designed for users who aren’t really familiar with the technology and this is among them.

The privacy policy disqualifies this provider as a good solution for P2P, as does their limited server selection.

Comments

really, don’t pay for this…I paid for a years subscription…the connection to their secure servers drops out far too frequently, even tho my internet connection is fine…34 times disconnected from secureline today and still counting…not unusual..I don’t know whether their servers are overloaded or not ? but really,better spend your money elsewhere..oops whilst I was typing this the disconnection number has increased to 37, 39, 43

I’ve been using Avast Secureline for the last few weeks and have only been dropped twice. I’m thinking that the above posters aren’t allowing Avast through their firewall software. Speeds are good and haven’t been much of a problem. I’ve noticed maybe a 15% decrease in my internet speeds. Not much of a big deal for the added security if you ask me.

This review needs to be updated. Without a fresh look its worthless as a guide to prospective VPN uses. I am currently running the OS X version of Secureline VPN. The interface is clean, and my upstream/downstream speeds are either unaffected or the effect is so minor as to be negligible.

I found VPNReviewz because I was searching for an alternative to Avast SecureLine. The service drops out frequently, and usually just when one would most privacy and security. Renaming it ‘Avast UN-SecureLine’ wouldn’t be unfair.

Secureline is working perfectly for me. I like how simple it is to set it up and turn it on/off.It hasn’t affected my internet speed at all, it hasn’t disconnected a single time, and it allowed me to watch movies that are not available on my regular/local connection if I connect from another country. I’m about to try playing an mmorpg that IP-bans my country. If I’m able to play the game it will be total perfection for me! 😀
I don’t know about the other reviews, I started using avast premier when I installed windows 10 after looking for a good and compatible antivirus alternative for it, and I’ve loved its performance. I have added avast cleanup and secureline to the program ever since without any glitches, crashes or drawbacks. It really is an excellent product.

I confirm: Total perfection! I was able to play Vindictus on the North American server connecting from NY. I had tried a million things (with my IP) to be able to play without any success, with Secureline it was just as simple as turning a switch on! 😀